There's
something quite wonderful about making bread. You can't bully it
for one thing, just cooperate with the process. Turn, press, fold.
Add a little more flour. Turn, press, fold. I don't think that
bread worries about its own performance, doesn't ask the cook,
Am I doing this the right way? Did that rye bread know more than
I do? It just gives itself over to whatever process has taken it
in hand. Trusts it to continue.
-Excerpt
from In Buddha's Kitchen
If
I had it to do over (and I don't), I'd become a baker rather than
a chef. Perhaps if I'd become a baker, I would think differently.
When
you bake, experiment with different flours. Barley, for instance,
has a wonderfulful flavor but don't use too much, just substitute
1 cup of barley flour for white or whole wheat in your favorite bread
recipe. I don't measure when I make bread, so don't have any recipes.
But I start most breads the same way: Mix 2 cups of flour, 1 T dry
yeast, and a pinch of sugar. Add 2 cups of hot water
& mix. Let this sit until the yeast starts to bubble up. You can
actually let it bubble around for a couple of hours. Then add a little
oil, maybe an egg and about a teaspoon of salt. For soft bread or rolls,
put in a couple of tablespoons of powdered milk. Sometimes I add a
chug of molasses, sometimes not. Sometimes I mix in sesame and sunflower
meal. Flaxseed meal is good, too. About a half cup of oatmeal is nice.
When everything is mixed, start adding more flour until you get a stiff
dough, then knead in enough to make the dough the right consistency.
Ear lobe consistency is what they say. Let it rise once, punch it down,
let rise again, punch down & shape into loaves (round ones are
pretty) & bake at about 350 until done, maybe 40 minutes. For somebody
who doesn't have a bread recipes, I guess I did all right here. Usually
the recipes on the back of the flour sack are pretty trust worthy.
Quick
Bread with variations.